I'm really dissatisfied with the way he looks. I don't think I captured his likeness at all. But I'm working on Gimli now and the beard is killing me (I chose a high contrast reference so the hair is impossible) and I wanted to post anything. So here he is.
It's a bit funny, really. Him and unfinished Gimli are sitting together on my desk. King of Mirkwood and his son in law. A family reunion;)
I've been thinking about ósanwë (Elven telepathic ability) and I suddenly realized that, through their link, Thranduil must have sensed his wife's capture, ordeal, and subsequent death in the hands of the orcs.
Just feeling her fear and agony from far away, driven mad by his helplessness in the situation as he scrambles to find and rescue her.
And then I realized that eventually she must have shut her mind to him, hoping to spare him that pain...except the deafening silence and inability to reach her at all only made his torture so much worse.
I am dreading/excited/scared to (eventually) write this particular story.
@chicotfp I had to share this on my page because this is absolutely true 🥰🥰 I hope you don’t mind. (Couldn’t find you on tiktok but did leave credit for your art in the comments 🙂)
"Upon his tomb the Elvenking then laid Orcist, the elvish sword that had been taken from Thorin in captivity." (The Hobbit, Chapter 18 - The Return Journey)
Consider this gesture from Thranduil, honoring the deceased Thorin by giving up Orcrist to rest upon his tomb for eternity. Thorin had no legitimate claim to such a priceless Elvish heirloom, other than "finders keepers". Unlike in the movies, Thorin never even carried it into his final battle, so there is no sentimental value tying him to it.
Orcrist (as well as Glamdring) was the sword of King Turgon, High King of Gondolin, making Elrond (his great-grandson) its clear and rightful heir. However, the movie Desolation of Smaug also portrayed Legolas claiming the sword as one made by his kin, so perhaps Thranduil's descendants, through his wife's side of the family, has some claim to it as well (as I mentioned in a previous post). At the very least, it makes sense that a famous Elvish blade should remain in the hands of an Elf. Imagine how deadly Legolas would have been if he'd wielded that bad boy on the Pelennor Fields.
Arguments about claims aside, it is an understated testament to Thranduil's sense of honor and diplomacy that he chose to use Orcrist to honor a Dwarf King. Thorin had not been very respectful to him in return, and would never get the chance to return the favor. But it seemed to matter to Thranduil that he lay something truly valuable on Thorin's tomb as a symbol of friendship and peace, perhaps with the intention of ending the feud between their races once and for all.
So much for those accusations of the Elvenking being "weak for treasure".